Searching for That Light
by nyann
Summary: Clean story, no Yaoi, great for all around audiences. Houshin Engi set in a fantasy Dragonlance like world.
1. Chapter 1

Searching for That Light - A Houshin Engi Fantasy  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Prologue  
  
Moonglow danced upon the white sheets of snow covering the sides of the worn pathway. A soft wind blew, cold but not biting. A few rabbits, their fur white coats for the winter, peered out at the tall dark figure staggering down the path. The moon shone on him and made him almost luminescent. A wolf appeared, the rabbits scattered. The wolf smelt blood and weakness. The slavering jaws opened in anticipation and the creature watched the figure stumbled, not with the rabbits? curiosity, but with hunger.  
  
There was blood on the frozen dirt of the pathway, dribbling like half-set gel down the man?s leg. Red stains, made brown in the moonlight, were thick on the man?s clothing. He gripped his staff tightly and tried to move on. He could hear the wolves gathering. And the drip of saliva from their jaws. The feathers of the arrows lodged in his leg brushed against his heavy robe.   
  
The arrow tip moved against muscle. He let out a sharp gasp of pain and collapsed.  
  
The wolves heard his cry and they bounded out from the thicket, red eyes gleaming.  
  
Chapter One  
  
Youzen woke up, gasping, seeing glittering red eyes. Sweat rolled down the sides of his cheek, and the pillow was soaked wet. He clutched at the blanket tightly, and stared at the dark wooden beams above him. The room he was in was dark and the windows half open. He shivered a little for the tunic he was redressed in was thin and short.  
  
An unlit candlestick sat on the table a short distance away from him. His staff leaned against the wall near him, his bundle was placed on a chair next to the staff. There were still bloodstains on it.  
  
The wizard felt a dull, throbbing pain in his left leg. Pulling the blanket away, he saw thick bandages wound around his injured leg and the faint smell of a poultice wafted up to his nostrils. He sucked his teeth slowly, realizing the sour taste of meat broth hung in his mouth.  
  
The doors creaked. A shadowy figure entered, carrying a tray of some sort. Instinctively, Youzen bent forward and tried to grab his staff. His attempts failed and he doubled over in pain, clutching at his leg. The figure let out an exclamation and hurriedly left the tray on the table. The candlestick was lit in a flash, and a young man kneeled beside the bed, urging the wizard to lie back. Youzen gritted his teeth in pain and squinted at the face hovering above him.  
  
It was a face as fair as any princess. Luminous blue-violet eyes, more violet than blue, looked at him, wide with pure concern. Whatever tiny breeze that came into the small room played with the soft sky-colored hair upon his head. The young man wore white, shadowed in the dancing candlelight. He shook his head and glanced anxiously at the bandaged leg. A relieved look came over his features as the bandages were not stained with new blood.  
  
"Who are you"? Youzen finally croaked when he felt the young man relax.  
  
"My name is Fugen." The young man smiled tiredly. He took the tray of food from the table and pulled up a chair, sitting next to the bed, placing the tray on his lap. "I am glad you are awake. You have been sleeping for days, Sir Wizard. I took the liberty of changing your clothes, please forgive me."  
  
The young man blushed and gestured to a cupboard shrouded in the dark at the end of the room.  
  
"I left your clothes in that cupboard. I tried to mend them the best I could, and clean away the bloodstains." Fugen picked up the bowl of warm gruel and offered to feed the wizard. Youzen sat up slowly, and insisted he could eat on his own. Shrugging with a smile, Fugen obliged.  
  
"What happened? Did you rescue me?" Youzen murmured, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of stewed meat. "You don't look like you could had handled a pack of wolves." His eyes ran down Fugen's thin frame assessingly.  
  
Fugen broke into a huge smile and waved his hands. "No, no, Sir. I did not chase away those wolves. My friend did the chasing away. I merely tried to heal you. Tenka and I were out searching for game and we saw the wolves surrounding you. Tenka loped off a few heads from them and my spells put some to sleep."  
  
"You are a wizard?" Youzen eyed the blue-haired youth closely. He couldn?t smell anything wizardly about Fugen. Fugen shook his head. "No, I am a cleric." Reaching into his tunic, Fugen pulled out an amulet and dangled it before the wizard. Youzen recognized the symbol etched upon the silver pendant and he nodded. At least, he knew it was not some quack doctor who took those arrows out from his leg. If it was, the arrowheads would still be in there.  
  
The cleric slipped the pendant back into his tunic and beamed.  
  
"How do you find the food? You were unconscious for days. I had to force you to swallow soup." The cleric sounded terribly apologetic again. Youzen shook his head and put down the soup spoon.  
  
"I have yet to thank you for saving my life. And this Tenka you speak of. Is he around? I would like to thank him." Youzen glanced at Fugen momentarily. The cleric tilted his head to one side and thought for a while.  
  
"I think he's out hunting again. He's always wanting to catch big game." Fugen spoke with a laugh. "But, in fact, I think, there are only rabbits in this forest. I don?t know whether there are any large animals at all!"  
  
"You don't live here?" Youzen's eyebrow rose lightly at Fugen's comment.  
  
Fugen shook his head. "No, Sir, we are journeying towards the Moon Citadel, to the northern tip of this country. This.." The cleric glanced around. "belongs to Tenka's grandmother. We are just staying here for the week, before we move on again."  
  
Youzen just nodded. He took up the tray and handed it to the cleric, indicating he did not want to eat anymore. Fugen stood up and smiled.  
  
"I will leave you to rest, Sir Wizard. If you need anything, I will be in the adjacent room." The cleric blew out the candle and left the room silently. Youzen laid back in his bed and pondered. The two, the cleric and the strange warrior-like person, Tenka, were heading towards the same destination as he is. Something shot through his mind.  
  
Are they after the same thing? 


	2. Chapter 2

Searching for That Light - A Houshin Engi Fantasy  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Kill him!"  
  
"Wait!" Fugen grabbed Tenka"s elbow. The warrior bristled and tried to shove the cleric"s hand away.  
  
"He"s after the same thing as us, Fugen! Are you going to LET that happen?" If he gets the wish, your mother is going to die!"  
  
Fugen"s grip loosened slightly. He looked away and walked unsteadily to the round stool, sitting down heavily. Tenka looked at his friend and heat burned his ears.  
  
"I am sorry, Fugen. I shouldn"t have......"  
  
Fugen lifted up a hand and waved Tenka"s words away. "I am alright, Tenka." But....." The cleric looked up, staring into Tenka"s face. "We just can"t kill him thus, Tenka. It.. It is wrong."  
  
Tenka scratched his head, shifting his bandana a little to get to the itch. He sat down on the stool besides the cleric.  
  
"What do you think we should do, Fugen""  
  
"We bring him along. With us, Tenka." Fugen"s fingers on his staff curled tightly. "We don"t kill him. We let the Citadel do it."  
  
+ ~ + ~ + ~  
  
  
  
"Have you seen this man?"  
  
The young paladin shoved a black and white lithograph under the fruitseller's nose. The burly woman shook her head and shooed him away like as he was a fruit fly coming to prey on her grapes. The paladin sighed and walked away, chucking the drawing into his backpack.  
  
He had been here for days. A week for that matter. That renegade should be here before him. A curse escaped his lips involuntarily. He had been searching for the wizard and following him eversince that man left the port. And no one has seen him. The paladin glanced at the crowd, their brown hair and pale skin standing out starkly. It should be easy to spot a blue-haired wizard....  
  
Taikoubou wanted his promotion desperately. And this was the last test. To capture the wizard Youzen and bring him before the High Council to be judged. Youzen stole from the High Wizards - a magical item, a staff of great power which allowed him all kinds of mutations and transformations. And because of this staff, he had escaped successfully each time he was nearly caught. The paladin shifted the sword upon his back to a more comfortable angle. The sun was hot on his bare head. In the distance, the light bounced off the quartz balustrades of the Moon Citadel. The magical quartz sent rainbows flying over the white rooftops of the town surrounding it. It was an enchanting sight at times, but Taikoubou was not interested in dancing colors on white walls right now. He was tired. He wanted to sleep. But he had to find Youzen. Sucking his teeth with impatience, he took out the lithograph and strode down the last lane of the neighbourhood.  
  
It was a pretty lane. The flower boxes of the houses were overgrown with bright pink and white blossoms. Puddles of water dotted the cobblestones beneath the boxes. In a distance, someone was watering the blooms. Taikoubou hastened his steps and walked towards the figure.  
  
"Have you seen this person?"  
  
The woman looked at him slowly and down at the lithograph. A frown creased her forehead and she put down her watering can. She took the lithograph and held it to the light and nodded at the paladin. "Why do you want to find him?" "He"s my friend." Taikoubou lied. The woman's dark head nodded again. Her wet fingers smoothed back a lock of short hair behind her ear. "She knows where he is. Come."  
  
~ + ~ + ~ + ~  
  
"The Moon Citadel was built by the High Wizard of the North, Genshitenson. When he left the Council, he wanted a place to store his magic and for his tomb. And thus, he used his magic and shaped quartz and marble and silver from the deepest mines of the Northern Mountains and created the Moon Citadel."  
  
The guide paused for breath and the visitors gawked at the tall, pale structure in front of them. It was very far away, surrounded by dark green trees and a gate of steel.  
  
"The legend goes after the High Wizard's death, his only daughter appeared from the Citadel and spoke to the people who gathered.  
  
'A dying wish has my father. For those who enter the Moon Citadel and pass the tests, shall a wish be granted, be it of evil or good. For those who enter and fail, they would join him in his sleep. So, come forth those who want to challenge the Moon Citadel.'  
  
Those present on that day said the girl vanished into a sweet smelling mist after she finished her speech. No one dared to enter the Citadel and as years flew past, the story grew forgotten."  
  
The guide stopped again. One of the visitors, a hooded man of medium height, asked softly. His voice had a sleepy drawl to it.  
  
"Is there any way, we could enter the Citadel?"  
  
The guide frowned and shook his head.  
  
"The Mayor has restricted all entry to the Citadel." The guide took out a large, stained handkerchief and mopped his sweating head. "That is why we are in this tower galleria now."  
  
The man nodded and glanced at the young girl standing besides him. She put a hand on his, and her eyes turned to stare at the glittering Citadel. 


	3. Chapter 3

Searching for That Light - A Houshin Engi Fantasy  
  
Chapter 3   
  
It was pre-dawn. The moon dipped low on the horizon, splaying the top of pine trees with a sudden sharp blue light. Youzen was awake. Very awake. There was an ache in his shin where the wolves mauled him. He rubbed it slowly, deciding he would take a short walk around the compound.  
  
The soft melody of a harp floated out from a half-open window. Youzen stole near to the window and peeped through the slit. He recognized the harp. It was Kylissian - the race of winged beings who populated the Isles before the Wizards killed most of them in a war eons ago.  
  
The survivors of the war fled the Isles for the ice-covered land in the far south. The cold weather left the descendents with pale blue to white hair and very fair skin, and a deep rooted hate for all wizardkind. Often, these beings would fly in the dead of the night back to the Isles and assassinate wizards in their sleep.  
  
The room was shadowed. He saw the candle on the table was unlit. The melody tinkled in his ears. He shuffled against the wall a little more, straining his eyes to catch the player's visage.  
  
The moonlight had sliced in through the door of the room, casting faint blue rays on the harpist. It was the cleric. A frown appeared on Youzen's face. How did that cleric came to own a Kylissian harp. He was very sure the cleric was not Kylissian.  
  
Youzen drew misty morning air into his lungs, trying to still his heartbeat. He knew Kylissian assassinations too well. His teacher was stabbed in the heart, the gut and through the throat by one with white wings that glittered like ice in the moonlight.  
  
Strangely, the creature let him go and even winked at him when it flew out of the window, leaving behind star sapphire studded daggers dripping blood.  
  
The wizard continued to stand outside in the cold, listening to the melody. As the tune waned and waxed, it filled the atmosphere with a thin veneer of anguish. It carried the soul of old Kylissia right into Youzen's heart, riddling it with its pain. A chill swept through him, making goosebumps appear on his skin.  
  
Youzen wiped a sudden bead of perspiration from his brow. After all he had stolen the staff from the Isles. Even if the Kylissian tried to kill him, he could defend himself readily. But why was he feeling so afraid?  
  
The melody stopped. Youzen froze. He heard someone stand up and walk away. The hiss of lighted fat sounded. Drawing in a short breath, he peered through the slit in the window. The cleric's back faced him. Candlelight danced on wings of glittering ice, decorating the walls with shadowy rainbows. He could see the edge of the harp clearly, the light accentuating the gold finish and the inlaid star sapphires.  
  
Youzen slipped from the window, pressing his back to the cold wall. The chill burned into his muscles.  
  
The smiling face of the creature from years past came floating before his eyes.  
  
And it winked at him again.  
  
+++  
  
The whole chamber was silent. Taikoubou could almost hear the perfume floating around in the air. He had been sitting in the same spot for the last three hours. The short-haired woman who brought him in told him it would be a short wait.  
  
A string of curses slipped from Taikoubou's mouth. His stomach was growling. He put a gloved hand to his abdomen and sighed. His neck was stiff from sitting too long and he was growing sleepy. Within the next hour, the paladin nodded off, snoring lightly.  
  
"Sir."  
  
Someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder. He shook his head and opened his eyes tiredly. The smell of perfume was heavy in the air.  
  
"Sir. Wake up please." "If he wants to sleep, let him sleep..."  
  
He heard the scrapping sound of a chair being pushed away and the rustling of silk.  
  
"Highness!"  
  
Taikoubou pinched himself awake and stood up in such a rush, he knocked over his own chair. It clattered to the ground noisily. The short-haired woman flashed him a acidic look. A sheepish expression came over him as he hurriedly rearranged the chair.  
  
"Apparently he is not ready. I will let him wait some more." A cool female voice glided above him. He glanced up, hair falling over his eyes. In between the strands, he saw the veiled face of a tall woman. Her skin was very white and her dark red hair stood out in contrast to her skin and the ivory and rose garments she wore. He peered at her again, and she stared back, her crimson irises flaring slightly. A haughty look came over her eyes and she prepared to leave.  
  
"My apologies!"Taikoubou immediately knelt down on one knee, glancing up at the woman. He will not risk any loss of information at this point in time. She stopped and looked down at him.  
  
He felt a rumbling running through him.  
  
His stomach growled.  
  
It broke the quietness of the chamber. And the icy expression on her face.  
  
The woman lapsed into a shrill peal of laughter.  
  
"What an amusing man!" She remarked to the short-haired woman. The other smirked and nodded in agreement. "What does he want?"  
  
"He wants to find a wizard, Highness.? The woman replied. ?A wizard called Youzen."  
  
The veiled woman stopped chuckling. Her eyebrows lifted slowly at the mention of the name.  
  
"Say that again, Kijin."  
  
"Youzen, Highness."  
  
She tapped a slender finger to her chin contemplatively, before waving her hand at him to stand up. "I will want something in return for my information, paladin." She finally spoke.  
  
"What is the deal?" He brushed dust from his knees, his eyes on her.  
  
"Escort me into the Moon Citadel."  
  
She smiled at him, sharp white teeth showing through her red lips and the gauzy pale rose veil. 


End file.
